Red Cross members visit families in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo to listen to their fear of the Ebola virus on Aug. 31. The Congo's inability to establish control over its easternmost territories has exacerbated the country's current Ebola outbreak.
Editor's Note: This assessment is part of a series of analyses supporting Stratfor's 2019 Fourth-Quarter Forecast. These assessments are designed to provide more context and in-depth analysis of key developments over the next quarter. In July, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo an international emergency. Of the more than 3,000 confirmed cases to date, the virus has taken the lives of more than 2,000 people — making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history. And while the spread of the disease has weakened in recent months, the crisis is far from over, as new cases continue to emerge and fuel the threat of contagion. A number of international and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have attempted to contain the virus through an ambitious preventive campaign, which has so far helped vaccinate 225,000 people in the country.
